Why I Take Photos

I fell in love with photography when I was eight years old, holding my dad’s camera on a family vacation in Pella, Iowa. He asked me to take a picture of him in front of a windmill in the town square. The photo came out blurry, but something about that moment stuck. It sparked a curiosity in me that’s never gone away. Photography gets me out into the world and helps me see it differently, from new angles, in better light. Over time, it taught me more than how to take a photo, it taught me how to look at life and people with a deeper sense of perspective.

Birding has always been a big part of my journey. Capturing different bird species in flight feels like stopping time, freezing a split second of beauty that would otherwise vanish. That same fascination with moments in motion is what drew me to long exposure photography years ago. Whether it’s a bird midair, the spinning of steel wool, or stars slowly sweeping across the night sky, photography lets me witness and share the quiet magic most people miss.